Appeals from several sources, made to the supermarkets to improve prices paid for their eggs, fell, in the main, on stony ground. Their responses were deafening in their silence. ...

By the time you read this Hotwire, the compulsory housing orders will have been lifted, and free-range eggs can again be labelled as such. ...

Egg producers in Ukraine have not been without their difficulties before the Russian invasion. ...

April 1st will not be a day of amusement for egg producers. It is the day in which energy prices are set to rise by 54% average. This will be on top of the estimated 40% increase already imposed over the last year. This...

With so many people in the UK offering to take in refugee families from Ukraine, at no inconsiderable cost to themselves, and with over £40 million being raised in one evening on Red Nose Day, it is difficult to come to ...

This is a dynamic situation, with changes occurring every day. This report will be somewhat different, as it will be written as the month of March progresses, and so, items towards the end, may be conflicting or counter...

Although outbreaks are lessening as we start the new year, there is sufficient virus still circulating to ensure that biosecurity is kept to the highest level. This doesn’t just mean whole site biosecurity, but also hou...

Eggs seem to be moving out of the “commodity” category, and entering a new phase of popularity. The Times has featured them amongst 9 items that must be sought out in 2022. Amongst others were watermelon, sea vegetables...

Having looked at the original eggs, perhaps, at the beginning of a New Year we should briefly remind oneself of the virtues of the chicken egg. It is a healthy, natural wholefood that contains a wide range of important n...

The question that’s been bothering generations – “which came first, the chicken or the egg?” may finally have been answered. Some years ago, a businessman obtained a collection of broken and intact dinosaur egg from a n...

Producers are only guaranteed to maintain a free-range egg premium price for up to 16 weeks of being housed, taking us up to 16th March 2022. After that, the risk of free-range eggs being downgraded to 'barn' is a real r...

On 24th November the Government announced UK wide housing measures, due to the current avian influenza situation. It has instructed poultry farmers and bird keepers to house all birds and comes into force from Monday Nov...

Further to that reported in Item 5, there have been several other outbreaks of AI in the UK. a) H5N1 on a premises near Wrexham, on 2nd b) H5N1 on a premises in Angus, Scotland on 2nd c) There have been multiple out...

A recent survey, by Spanish and Brazilian researchers, included results from flocks housed indoors in 16 countries. A total of 176 million birds were included, kept in 6,040 flocks. 4,407 were cages (3,066 conventional...

Last month, we outlined the proposals in those US states that had vowed to become cage-free. Amongst them, was Massachusetts. In 2016, the state legislature had voted that until 1st January, stocking density should be ...

Recent work at Wageningen University, has thrown some light on the transmissibility of Avian Influenza between wild birds and commercial poultry units. The researchers examined dead, wild swans and concluded that there ...

Back in May, The Grocer magazine posed the question as to whether it was right to show the Union Flag on food packaging, or had it brought it into disrepute? Should the practice be discontinued? Naturally, the question ...

It may seem a little early to be talking of this, but, it is best to plan your promotions ahead of time, to give full impact to any publicity and advertising you are going to make, to ensure your customers are fully awar...

We are not referring to the taste of chicken here, but the taste BY the chicken. How much do they taste and do they have preferences. ...

UKEPA ‘Laid In Britain’ Assurance Scheme receives FSA approval An endorsed alternative to The Lion Code The Laid In Britain Code of Practice, managed by The United Kingdom Egg Producers Association has just received f...

Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister this week declared that “the only good mouse is a dead mouse.” Few can have missed the reports in the media of the plague of mice currently afflicting New South Wales, having already ca...

By the time most readers will receive this current Hotwire, we will already be in National BBQ Week, which this year runs for two weeks: 5th – 18th July. This is the 25th such celebration, supporting a market worth £1.7...

In many respects, it is good that the UK government has opened negotiations for accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) on 22nd June. We reported earlier, that firs...

There is a new ‘craze’ going round of putting eggs in a microwave to heat, rather than just boiling them the old-fashioned way. ...

The LHWF has completed a 2 year study into feather pecking and now Paula Baker and Claire Weeks have produced a comprehensive report on the findings. ...

Following on from the examination of feeding animals waste, researchers at Reading University, have looked at how consumers would look upon eggs from hens fed insect protein. ...

A few Year-on-Year statistics (data from BFRPA, Defra and others) Supermarket Prices (guide to best value from that source) ALDI Item Feb 2020 Feb 2021 Change + / - % Today’s Price/egg ...

New survey results show that 74% of rats analysed carry a resistance gene. One in five have two different genes. Affected rodents have been located in County Durham, West and East Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, Merseysi...

With the decline in the number of Avian Influenza cases in Europe, including the UK, Defra Veterinarians have decided the time is right to abandon the compulsory housing order on all poultry. So, from 23.59hrs (one minu...

It is good that the UK government has applied to join the free trade area of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. This group of 11 Asian and Pacific nations represents about 500 mil...

Last month, we reported that the UK and US had signed equivalence documents, allowing exchange of organic eggs with only an increase in necessary paperwork. It would be good to know, however, what the US put forward as ...

Back in December, we reported an outbreak of H5N8 on a 1.6 million unit in Russia. It is now reported by the Vektor Virology and Biotechnology Laboratory, a kind of equivalent to our Porton Down, that 7 workers on that ...

We always knew Brexit would create problems, but we were unaware just how bad it could get, culminating, in talk of tit-for-tat delays in delivery of Covid-19 vaccines to and from the EU. ...

Instead of selling end-of-lay hens live, why not suggest customers buy them dead, to cook like most Europeans do? ...

Defra has organised a Farm Animal Genetic Resources report every year for some time, but this is the first year they have included poultry. Laudable though this is, it is woefully inadequate. They give a list of 46 chi...

So, for better or worse, Brexit is here and we have to work hard to fulfil the promises made for it. ...

We have reported on the rise in domestic chicken keeping for a long time now. But, last year, with the initial egg shortage in the supermarkets, followed by the first national lockdown, this led to a surge in people get...

It should be noticed that not all incidents receive full reporting. For instance, there have been 241 cases in wild birds up to 20th December in England, and by 11th January, 161 outbreaks have been confirmed in the Land...

Your Executive Committee, UKEP/LIB Office Staff and I, would like to extend Season’s Greetings to you all, on what has been a very challenging year for everyone, in various ways. With the long-awaited announcement that ...

A brief communication from researchers in Australia, tells of work they have been carrying out on a novel approach to COVID control. ...

The latest report on antibiotic use, up to and including 2019, shows a continued decline in use in agriculture, and particularly, poultry. ...

Since those outbreaks mentioned in previous Hotwires, there has been an explosion of new cases throughout Europe. As well as the Netherlands, who confined their layers in October, confinement has now been ordered in Fra...

Food Safety News has reported that Lithuania has rejected more than 40 tonnes of poultry meat, imported from Poland, Hungary and Romania, between June and August, because of contamination with Salmonella enteritidis. ...

Six hours after release of the yolk from the ovary (ovulation), the egg already has the albumen around it and the membranes, together with the first sprinkling of shell material. This forms a sandpaper-like covering, wit...

Back in 1946, my father, being a country vicar with nearly an acre of ground. started breeding poultry to augment his stipend.  Pedigree Rhode Island Reds were purchased from a Poultry Breeder in Wellington Village. We t...

I am grateful to one of our Executive Committee members, Steve Faulkner, for alerting me to the passing of David Watts earlier this month, at the age of 74, after being unwell for a few years. ...

Recent recommendations by the American Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee for birth to 24 months, and specifically eggs as a first food, and for pregnant and lactating women are welcome. ...

The harvest is largely over in the south, but in the Northwest of the country has been particularly slow. ...

Whilst perhaps not agreeing with everything the RSPCA say or do, nevertheless, their latest survey and appeal to government is a valuable move. ...

There have been reported indications of the increased value of both barley and maize relative to wheat and the possible increase in their use in UK poultry rations. Having provided a few notes on barley, I thought a sim...